Stafford's Confederate Year

Potomac River

Confederate States Signal Corps and Secret Service operatives occupied camps near key Potomac crossing points and rowed across in sleek, fast row-boats with amazing speed by taking advantage of light and shadows on the river. Those captured by waterborne Federal patrols were usually able to dump secret information or material and/or illicit supplies. As a result, the Federal army and navy never grasped the system’s complexities.